Gedday all,
I have just fitted new door rubbers to my FC and thought it appropriate to share some thoughts for those about to do the same so as not to make the same mistakes.
First of all, If you are a member of the Vic FE FC car club, you will get a substansial discount from Rare Spares when you purchase the rubbers. (or any FE FC parts..)
Other clubs may have the same arrangement?
This discount makes the rubbers quite reasonably priced, especialy when compared to the price they list on the Rare Spares Website. I took the trip to the store with a pocket full of cash, and was very pleasantly suprised with the price. Neadless to say I spent the extra dollars in the store on other stuff. You just quote the account number listed in the front of the clubs newsletter.
The rubbers come with a fairly helpful instruction sheet although some paragraphs were incomplete. The main point being to have a clean channel for the rubbers to fit into. Spend a bit extra time cleaning out the old rubber and glue and youll be much happier with the result.
You dont need to buy four inner rubber seals as they are a lot longer than needed. Three seals will easily do the four doors.
I used two different types of glue, both Loctite brand, one was recomended by Rare Spares (424), and the other by a fellow car club member,(406). The main difference being that the 424 sets within 3-5 seconds so if the rubber seal is not in position within that time then you will have trouble trying to relocate it. The 406 glue seems to give you a few extra seconds before it sets. And man when these glues go off they are there to stay. Which brings me to my main point...., you dont need a lot of glue!!!!. The first door seal I tried to stick in ended up in a mess coz I had glue running everywhere. just a few drops every inch or so is enough for a really good bond.
Dont try to glue long sections at a time. You only have enough time to do six to eight inches at a time before the glue goes off. And if you have any glue on your fingers then you will have fingers with door seals attached, the glue wont let go so its either the rubber that has to tear or your skin.
If you have never done this before, then pick a door that will not get used a heap to start with. My first door was a complete F-up, but by the fourth I was an expert. Isnt it always the way??, by the time you learn how to do something its all over.
I also highly recomend the product sold by Rare Spares calle RUBBER MAGIC. You spray it on the door rubber once you have glued it in and it lubricates and softens the rubber. This turns doors that will barely slam shut into doors that shut with that great solid thunk sound.
I could open and shut my doors all day long just to listen to that good old solid door sound.
One last little piece of advice that is probably really obvious but I had to learn the hard way... when you remove the front doors (coz they have to be off to do the rubbers properly) undo the hinge bolts in the door and slide the doors off leaving the hinge attached to the car. If you try to undo the six phillip head screws holding the hinges to the body, you will have a much harder job removing and replacing the doors. You will potentialy dammage the paintwork that you just spent thousands of dollars on...... Doh...
Having at least one other helper would be good to. And scribe along the hinge in the door before removal, that way when you come to refit the door you wont spend a lot of frustrating time trying to align the door. (While scratching that expensive paint.... Doh..)
I`m sure many other people have a lot more good advice on this job. Its just so frustrating to stuff it up coz its one of the last jobs to do in the restoration process, and nobody wants their car to have leaky, bulgy, annoying door seals.
Chow,
Brendan.
